IndyBlog

Get your condoms, get your endangered species condoms!

A more responsible message than the local Democrats' "Rock Out with Your Caucus Out"?

Anti-growther and former City Council candidate Dave Gardner wants you to wear a rubber.

In fact, Gardner is so concerned with your bedside manner that he's taking part in a Center for Biological Diversity project that aims to hand out 100,000 "endangered species condoms" to highlight the effects of human population growth on the Earth's other organisms.

With predictably hilarious results, Gardner has chased down runners, cornered moms, and embarrassed more than a few old guys, all the while waving condoms that bare slogans like 'Wear a jimmy hat, save the big cat," and "Cover your tweedle, save the burying beetle."

Anyway, the condoms feature illustrations of endangered species, including the polar bear, snail darter, spotted owl, American burying beetle, jaguar, and coquí guajón rock frog, along with the aforementioned slogans. (Personal favorite: "Hump smarter, save the snail darter.") And they aren't just clever promotion. These activists are hoping you'll use these things, and hopefully stop breeding at such prolific rates that you drive other animals to extinction.

At 6.8 billion people, the human race is not only the most populous large mammal on Earth but the most populous large mammal that has ever existed. Providing for the needs and wants of this many people — especially those in high-consumption, first-world nations — has pushed homo sapiens to absorb 50 percent of the planet’s freshwater and develop 50 percent of its landmass. As a result, other species are running out of places to live.